In case you have not seen the interview with the Orlando Sentinel and Tampa Tribune that Jon Gruden gave in February, he thinks Tim Tebow is going to revolutionize the NFL next year.

In the interview with the Sentinel’s Chris Harry, Jon Gruden said Tim Tebow could take the “wildcat” formation—a direct snap to a running back—to a completely different level.

“Most of the teams that have the wildcat back there, it’s Ronnie Brown, it’s Jerious Norwood, it’s whoever you want to say it is,” Gruden said. “This guy here is 250 pounds of concrete cyanide, man. And he can throw. He throws well enough at any level to play quarterback.

“He can play quarterback in the NFL. What he said after the Ole Miss game, I said, ‘That’s my favorite football player I’ve ever seen in my whole life.’ I said, ‘I want Florida to win every game that kid plays from now on.’”

Sooo, I am to believe that he will be the best running QB ever to play in the NFL as I keep hearing from fanboys and fancoaches alike?  A revolutionary? And this is based on the findings of an apparently not very popular ex-head coach, who does not embrace or prefer to start young players, especially at quarterback?

If I were to think about who the top running QBs of all time are I would say (in no particular order)…

John Elway, Steve Young, Fran Tarkenton, Randall Cunningham, Steve McNair, Terry Bradshaw, Donovan McNabb and Michael Vick.
That’s a pretty good stable.  Four Hall-of-Famers (Elway, Young, Tarkenton and Bradshaw), two fairly decent ex-players (Cunningham, McNair) and one who’s story is still to be written (Vick).

Here are the career rushing leaders at quarterback:

• Randall Cunningham - 4,928 rushing yards (6.4yds/carry)
• Steve Young - 4,239 rushing yards (5.9yds/carry)
• Michael Vick – 3,859 rushing yards (7.3yds/carry)
• Fran Tarkenton – 3,674 rushing yards (5.4yds/carry)
• Steve McNair – 3,590 rushing yards (5.4yds/carry)
• John Elway – 3,407 rushing yards (4.4yds/carry)
• Terry Bradshaw – 2,259 rushing yards (5.1yds/carry)

But Tebow will better than them all?  These guys were not traditional pocket passers, all had success, but Tebow will revolutionize the game when these guys couldn’t, despite their successes?

Let’s take a look at what these inferior precursors to the runnng savant known as Tim Tebow have done to “not” revolutionize the game.

John Elway:  He played his college football at Stanford and his entire NFL career with the Denver Broncos.  Elway set career records for both passing attempts and completions while at Stanford and received All-American honors. Elway was drafted #1 overall in the 1983 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Colts before being traded to the Denver Broncos. He would go on to win two Superbowls, XXXII and XXXIII, and garner the MVP in the latter.  He is known as being one of the most clutch quarterbacks of all-time.  His most famous example being a 98-yard, game-tying drive in the AFC Championship Game against the Cleveland Browns in 1987 known as “The Drive”. Besides receiving the 1987 NFL MVP award, he also has one of the best winning percentages in league history (148–82–1), and is tied for second most Pro Bowl selections for a quarterback (nine). His four total rushing touchdowns in his Super Bowl games are the most ever by a quarterback. Elway is the only quarterback to have started in five Super Bowls. He is also the second player ever to score a rushing touchdown in four different Super Bowls.  In 2005, TSN published a special feature honoring the 50 Greatest Quarterbacks. Elway was ranked third behind Johnny Unitas and Joe Montana.


 
Steve Young: Steve played his college ball at Brigham Young University, and is a descendant of one of the church founders, Brigham Young, for whom Steve Young's alma mater was named.  He signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1985 after being the first player selected in the year's supplemental draft.  The Buccaneers selected University of Miami quarterback Vinny Testaverde first overall in the 1987 NFL Draft and Young was consequently traded to the San Francisco 49ers.  He was named the MVP of the NFL in 1992 and 1994, the MVP of Super Bowl XXIX, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2005, the first left-handed quarterback to be so honored. He holds the NFL record for highest career passer rating and won six NFL passing titles. Steve holds the NFL records for highest career passer rating (96.9), most career rushing touchdowns by a QB (43) and most TD passes in one Super Bowl (6).

 

Fran Tarkenton: Tarkenton attended the University of Georgia, and was later drafted in third round of the 1961 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings in their inaugural season.  In his 18 seasons, Tarkenton threw for 47,000 yards and 342 touchdowns. He is also fourth all-time for wins by a starting quarterback with 125 regular season victories. Tarkenton also used his impressive scrambling ability to rack up 3,674 rushing yards and 32 touchdowns on 675 carries (5.44 yds/carry). During his career, Tarkenton ran for a touchdown in 15 different seasons, an NFL record among quarterbacks. He also ranks fourth in career rushing yards among quarterbacks', behind Randall Cunningham, Steve Young and Michael Vick. Fran is also one of two NFL quarterbacks to rush for at least 300 yards in seven different seasons. Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986, Tarkenton is widely considered one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. When he retired, Tarkenton held NFL career records in pass attempts, completions, yardage, and touchdowns; rushing yards by a quarterback; and wins by a starting quarterback. He was the 1975 NFL MVP.

 

Randall Cunningham: Cunningham playing college football at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, he was selected in the second round of the 1985 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles.  He also played for the Minnesota Vikings, the Dallas Cowboys, and the Baltimore Ravens. He started his career occasionally replace the aging Ron Jaworksi  in third-and-long situations where the fleet-footed youngster’s scrambling would presumably put the defense on its heels.  In his 16-year career, Cunningham threw for 30,000 yards and 207 touchdowns. He also rushed for 4,928 yards on 775 carries and 35 touchdowns. He retired after the 2001 season as the NFL's all-time leader in rushing yards and carries for the quarterback position and tied for fourth with Steve Grogan in rushing touchdowns by a QB. Cunningham also averaged 30.6 rushing yards per game during his career — second most all-time for quarterbacks, behind Michael Vick.

 

Steve McNair: McNair played collegiately for Alcorn State University, a  Division I-AA school.  During his senior campaign, McNair gained nearly 6,000 yards rushing and passing, to go along with 53 touchdowns. In the process, he surpassed more than a dozen records and was named an All-American. He was selected with the third pick in the 1995 NFL Draft by the Houston Oilers.  Though he never won a Superbowl, and missed some games to injury towards the end of his career, McNair was still considered to be a great running QB.  He ended up with 3,590 career rushing yards along with 37 rushing touchdowns, and was co-MVP of the 2003 NFL season.

 

Terry Bradshaw: The 1978 NFL MVP attended Louisiana Tech and was later drafted number one overalll in the 1970 NFL draft.  Coming out of college as a junior, he was considered to be the best player available in the draft.  Bradshaw won Superbowls in 1974, 1975, 1978, 1979 – an unprecendented four titles in six years.  He passed 27,989 career yards and 212 touchdowns. He also rushed 444 times for 2,257 yards and 32 touchdowns. He was 107-51 as the starting quarterback and helped the Steelers reach the playoffs 10 times. His career postseason record as a starter was 14-5, and was elected to the Pro Football Hall-of-Fame in 1989, his first year of eligibility.

 

Donovan McNabb:  McNabb played college football for Syracuse University and was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles as the second overall pick of the 1999 NFL Draft. His senior year at Syracuse he rushed 135 times for 438 yards and 8 touchdowns and had a 158.9 passing efficiency rating.  He also spent two years as a reserve on the school's nationally ranked basketball team.  In his first full season as a NFL starter in 2000, McNabb finished second in the Associated Press MVP voting, accounting for 74.6% of the team's total net yards.  His 629 rushing yards in 2000 were tops among NFL QBs and, at the time, the fourth-highest total ever (968 by Bobby Douglass in 1972; 942 by Randall Cunningham in 1990; and 674 by Steve McNair in 1997. Michael Vick has since eclipsed that total three times). His six rushing TDs in 2000 were the most by an Eagles QB since Randall Cunningham also had six in 1988.  McNabb has led the Eagles to four consecutive NFC East division championships (2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004), five NFC Championship Games (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2008), and one Super Bowl (Super Bowl XXXIX).  Through 2008, McNabb has 3,109 yds rushing in his career along with 26 rushing TDs.

 

Michael Vick: Michael Vick attended Virginia Tech and later was drafted by the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons as the first overall draft pick in the 2001 draft.  In his first collegiate game as a redshirt freshman at Virginia Tech,  he scored three rushing touchdowns in just over one quarter of play. His last touchdown was a spectacular flip in which he landed awkwardly on his ankle, forcing him to miss the remainder of the game in addition to the following game.  Vick was selected in the 2001 NFL Draft as the first overall pick and first African American quarterback ever taken number one in the NFL Draft.  Vick owns several NFL records, including the most rushing yards by a quarterback in a single season (1,039 in 2006), highest average per carry in a single season (8.45 in 2006), 100-yard career rushing games by a quarterback (eight), best two-game rushing total (225 in 2004) and rushing yards in a single game (173 in 2002).  Vick and teammate RB Warrick Dunn (1,140) became the first quarterback/running back duo to each surpass 1,000 rushing yards in a single season, and one of only five teammates to accomplish the feat in NFL history, with the latest being New York Giants' running backs Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward in 2008.  Vick set an NFL postseason record for a quarterback with 119 rushing yards in the 2004 NFC Divisional Playoff win against the Rams, and became the first quarterback to ever throw for more than 250 yards and rush for over 100 yards in the same game at the Broncos (2004).  He is currently ranked third among quarterbacks in history for rushing yards (3,859) and has 21 career rushing TDs. 



Running Out of College.



There have been a lot of  great college running quarterbacks.  Vince Young, Woody Dantzler, Tavaris Jackson, Akili Smith, Shawn King, Daunte Culpepper and most recently Pat White.  But, will Tim Tebow be Daunte Culpepper or Jared Lorenzen.  I’m guessing closer to the “"The Pillsbury Throwboy".

Other reason I do not think Tebow’s success in college will translate to the NFL, let alone revolutionize it.

• Tebow was regularly throwing downfield to a guy who is nearly always 7-10 yards clear of the defender because his receivers are so much better and faster.
• When he has played against defenses who cover well and he had to hit tight spots, he hasn't been very successful (i.e. see this years Ole Miss game and last year's bowl against Michigan and last year against LSU as well).
• I am not a Vince Young fan, but I believe VY is both more durable and a better runner then Tebow.  Tebow may have some success in the NFL, but I do not believe it will eclipse Vince Young’s NFL track record, which isn’t all that great.  And, I believe Vince was more of a dominant overall QB in college.  He nearly single-handely won the National Championship by taking the whole team on his shoulders in 2005.  Not that Tebow isn’t a good leader.  He’s just not the complete package Vince Young was coming out of college.  To those who still think Tebow is still a better leader, go back and check out the 2004 Rose Bowl and the 2005 National Championship.  As well, go back and check Tebow’s record.  Vince Young lost 2 games in his 3-year college career.  How is Tebow’s record? 

Tebow is simply not that effective of a passer, yet he plays a position where throwing is the main function. He is a system QB with physical skills.   Runner, or not, he will not revolutionize college football, let alone the NFL.